"So, what do you think the girls are doing?" Asked Vanimo curiously as he sat on his bed before turning to look at Alexander, who was doing one-handed, upside-down push-ups.
"Talis is most likely talking about how great flying is. Lazuli is probably silently sitting down and meditating, and Vanye, I would say she's practicing with her sword, but there isn't enough space to do that in their room, so she's probably minding her own business." Replied Alexander lightly as he paused his workout and glanced at Vanimo with a thoughtful expression before continuing to do push-ups.
"Eh, really? I honestly thought they would be arguing." "Well, that's my second guess if it makes you feel more confident." Remarked Vanimo and Alexander, respectively, as the former glanced at the latter, who raised an eyebrow and nodded in agreement.
After boarding the ship this morning, it set sail probably about five hours ago, and since then, we haven't done much, nor has anything really occurred; it's around the time we would usually eat dinner, but we all had a large brunch, so I doubted anyone would eat, besides the chef probably wasn't better than me anyways.
Since the ship also only had so many cabins, we separated into two groups, men and women: Vanimo and I were sharing a small cabin with only two bedrooms and the bare necessities, though neither of us seemed to care; after all, this was only a temporary stay. As for Lazuli, Talis, and Vanye, they had a slightly bigger room with three bedrooms, which was the biggest room we could get since we bought the second lowest-tier ticket, which cost each person a single gold coin.
However, since Talis sneaked aboard with her flying, I saved a whole gold coin, which was like a month's work, so I wasn't complaining, though I didn't know if she was even in her room right now.
'If it's just Lazuli and Vanye, they're definitely arguing.' Thought Alexander with a wry expression as he pushed himself into the air, only to switch hands while continuing to exercise.
"Um, hey, Alex, c-can I ask you something?" Asked Vanimo lightly as he left his bed and approached Alexander, who nodded through his exercise.
"C-Can you teach me to get strong like you?" Added Vanimo awkwardly with a faint blush as he lowered his head in slight embarrassment.
Momentarily stopping, I pushed off the ground and did a backflip as I landed perfectly in front of Vanimo.
"Why do you want to be strong? You've got Talis and Vanye." Asked Alexander curiously as he folded his arms and looked at Vanimo, who softly sighed.
"I know, but that's the point. Before, I was cursed, so I never sought to get strong since it wasn't possible with my underdeveloped body, but now… Now that I'm a man, it's a possibility." Remarked Vanimo as he clenched his fist and raised his head while looking at Alexander, who raised an eyebrow before nodding.
"Okay. But why, though?" Asked Alexander with a narrowed gaze as he stared deeply into Vanimo's eyes.
"B-Because I'm ashamed of myself. Whenever Talis grabs me or picks me up to fly around with, I-I can't resist her at all, a-and she does it so nonchalantly, like she's not even trying. Actually, no, she's probably trying, just not to hurt me." Muttered Vanimo softly as he once again lowered his head at his self-mocking statements.
"I-I thought that now that I was a man, I-I would be able to wield V-Vanye's sword, but no; I-I can still barely swing it for a minute before feeling my arms shake. E-Even after you broke the curse, I-I'm still so pathetic." Added Vanimo weakly as he raised his hands and glanced at his arms, only to depressingly slump on the ground while curling into a ball.
I rolled my eyes at how he seemed to not notice how much stronger he's gotten from before; swinging Vanye's sword just a few times to doing so repeatedly for a minute isn't some minor improvement, but it seems he thinks otherwise.
"So you don't want to be a little crybaby bitch? If that's why you want to get stronger, I'll help you; after all, I have nothing to do; that exercise was merely to pass the time; they weren't doing anything." Remarked Alexander with a nod as he reached down and picked up Vanimo by the back of his collar, lifting him into the air while still curled into a ball, crying.
"Though first things first, get naked; I want to see what I'm working with." Said Alexander sternly as he eyed Vanimo, who nervously gulped while wiping his tears.
Setting Vanimo on the ground, I watched him take his clothes off, causing me to internally wince at how skinny he was; it looked borderline sickly, though when I saw him pulling his underwear down, I had to snap my eyes shut.
"The hell are you doing?" "B-But you said naked?" "Not completely naked, you fool; why would I ever want to see another man's cock?" Remarked Alexander and Vanimo, respectively, as the two argued back and forth, causing the latter to nod embarrassingly while pulling his underwear back up.
'Tsk, I didn't see everything, but at least I know everything about him isn't skinny. I also now know why Talis was moaning so loud.' Thought Alexander with an annoyed look as he eyed Vanimo, who was too embarrassed to make eye contact.
"Alright, to put it lightly, you're extremely skinny, but you have a working body, so we're good. Now, c'mon, let's get to it." Stated Alexander calmly as he observed Vanimo, only to faintly smirk as he began to teach.
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While Alexander and Vanimo were getting along quite nicely, the same couldn't be said for Lazuli and Vanye.
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"Tsk, I hate you." "I wish that curse killed you." Said Vanye and Lazuli, respectively, as they glared at each other, not bothering to conceal their hatred.
"I hope you're burnt alive." Said Vanye with a grunt as she eyed Lazuli, whose face lost any emotion, causing her to frown subtly.
"Shut up." Said Lazuli emotionlessly as she side-glanced Vanye, who stood up while faintly smirking.
"Heh, did I bring back some memories?" "I said be quiet." Remarked Vanye and Lazuli, respectively, as the former approached the latter with a mocking grin.
"I don't know who was burnt alive, but I hope they experienced hell!" Stated Vanye with a wicked grin as she leaned forward into Lazuli's face, only for a glowing sphere of pure mana to be aimed at her face.
"Open your mouth again, and I don't care how much Alexander likes you… I'll kill you." Said Lazuli sternly, with tears streaming down her cheek as she pointed her arm-canon at Vanye while continuing to pump her mana into the glowing sphere, causing it to grow in size and power.
Staring at Lazuli, I glanced at the glowing sphere of mana before looking back at her, only to scoff as I turned around and left; she clearly wasn't joking from the sheer amount of mana she had channeled into that attack of hers, not to mention the fact she continued to fill it with mana as if she had no limit. I wasn't scared of her, but engaging in a fight on a ship in the middle of the ocean was beyond stupid, and I didn't hate Lazuli enough to do that.
'Tsk, but she's not someone I could just gloss over either; she's got a ridiculous amount of mana.' Thought Vanye with a click of her tongue as she exited the room and walked down the hallway, heading towards Vanimo and Alexander's room.
Although frustrating, I shook my head and headed towards my brother's room, hoping he and Alex could ease my annoyance; however, when I opened the door, I was met with a surprising sight.
My brother, wearing nothing but underwear, was doing push-ups while Alex, who had no shirt, was sitting on his back, yelling at him to continue despite his obvious struggle.
"C'mon! Only ten more! Do it! If you can't do ten more, no sex for you tonight!" "A-Arghh, I-I can't do it!" Said Alexander and Vanimo, respectively, as the former constantly yelled while the latter struggled to lift them both; his face had long since turned red from the strain.
"Um, Alex, what the hell are you doing with my brother?" Asked Vanye as she entered the room and closed the door behind her, causing Alex to raise his head with a faint smile.
"Oh, hey, Vanye, I'm training him to get stronger. Why are you stopping!? I didn't say you could stop! Nine more! Do you want to make love with Talis tonight or not? Make up your damn mind!" Replied Alexander with a friendly smile as he waved at Vanye, only to shift his focus to Vanimo, aggressively yelling into his ear and causing him to nearly scream.
"I-I want to make love with her!!" Yelled Vanimo loudly as he used all his might to push him and Alexander up, only for him to collapse onto the ground.
"I-I can't, I-I'm done, Alex." Added Vanimo weakly as he closed his eyes, prompting Alexander to stand up off his back while nodding.
"Ay, you did good; now take a load off. I'll feed you my vial so we can get to work right again." Said Alexander lightly as he glanced at Vanimo before approaching Vanye, who was caught admiring his physique.
"Heh, like what you see? I'll let you touch them if you want." Asked Alexander with a smirk as he flexed his muscles, causing Vanye to roll her eyes, though surprisingly she did touch them.
"Hmm, it's weird. It's meaty yet so firm." Muttered Vanye lightly as she squeezed Alexander's chest, causing his face to twitch.
"That's not how I would describe my chest, but okay." Said Alexander lightly with a weird gaze as he glanced at Vanye, who touched her breast.
"Ah, no wonder that felt so familiar." Said Vanye, with a faint smirk, her words causing Alexander to glance blankly at her.
"Alright, shut up." Said Alexander blandly as he quickly put his shirt back on while Vanye softly chuckled to herself.